Sunday, May 24, 2015

Cassie's Journal - May 23, 2015

We didn’t escape the rain that was
forecasted for us, and it’s coming down fairly steadily right now as I write
this; but the weather didn’t start putting a cramp in our holiday weekend fun
until around dinnertime. That meant moving
that meal indoors, and our evening entertainment did not include a campfire
this year; but the rest of the day was really great!

Tai Chi by the river was extra-special
because we not only had Dad back again; but there were extra spectators
watching the action too.That was one of
my favorite moments of the day; partly because Michael was there – and we didn’t
get to spend a lot of time together today.He stayed for breakfast, but then had to get going after that –
splitting his time between some chores at home and working at the Inn.We helped out with the cooking before sitting
down to eat with Ethan, Ehlana, and my teen cousins while the parents and
Grandparents had some quieter time in the dining room – and they had Violet and
Dillon with them.

Dawn and I were already well on the way to
catching up after our girl chat time last night, so we mostly talked about what
Chris and Martin had been doing – and would be doing for the summer.Since Chris is graduating from high school in
June, he’s particularly interested in earning money for college; so we probably
won’t see him much this summer.Martin
still has two more years to go, but he is sixteen now and has more automotive
mobility; so he’s fairly busy too.

After we ate, I saw Michael on his way, and
then was set free so that I could take my turn to get ready for the day.Chris and Martin had already taken off by the
time I was downstairs again, so Dawn and I took Ethan and Ehlana with us and
went for a bike ride.Our little tour
included a ride around the new section of town, and eventually ended at the
park so that Dawn could see the new playground and paths – and the twins could
get some quality playground time with the other kids that had swarmed the place
by then.

The playtime had been entertaining, and
lunch was quick, easy, and minimal work at each end of the process; which
allowed us to be ready to go out to Quarry Lake with most of the afternoon
still available for our extreme fun there.I’m sure that you can guess that the rock wall and zip line were the
highlights of the day for most of us; though the line-ups were long too; and
that meant only doing that once or twice each.It was too cold for swimming, but the new slides looked amazing; and we’ll
definitely be trying them out soon – once it’s a bit warmer in the lake.Even without the swimming, we managed to keep
busy through until it was time to head home again.

I was on the dinner cooking and set=up
crew, and while the plan had been for outdoor dining again; Mom made the call
to set-up in the kitchen and dining room instead so there wasn’t any need for a
last-minute dash for cover.That was a
good decision, since it was raining by shortly before we were ready to sit down
and eat – and the guys got a bit damp wrapping up the grilling on the
barbeques.We – the kids and teens –
were again in the kitchen for the meal.The dining room cut-off tonight was college students and older; along
with the toddlers so that we weren’t too crowded in the kitchen.

Our dinner conversation was mostly about
Quarry Lake, and by then; Chris and Martin were both wishing at least a bit
that they weren’t going to be busy all summer so that they could come here for
vacation with Dawn.That wasn’t going to
be a problem for Dawn; and she’s decided that we should make sure that Jillian
can come with her for the entire holiday.Daily trips to Quarry Lake won’t actually be an option; but I think we
can manage to make at least a couple of extra trips out there this year
compared to normal.I know that Michael,
Tim, Rowen, and I will be making extra trips out there all summer if we can
swing it – or bike there.

Since our play evening outdoors wasn’t
going to work out, the lounge was deemed gaming central; while movies were the
entertainment option in the living room.Not everyone stayed for that – or at least not for more than one movie;
but Jonathan stayed to play video games with Chris and Martin; and I don’t
expect him to head back to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s tonight.The three boys are still gaming as I’m
writing this; so Jonathan will likely just crash here whenever they do decide
to call it a night and get some sleep.

Dawn and I split our evening between the
lounge and living room; and she’s now doing a ‘sleepover’ with Violet instead
of in my room with me – or her own room.That might have something to do with the noise level in the lounge; but
the sister time is important too.Having
Dawn in with Violet has allowed me to get started on my nightly computer checks
earlier than I’d expected; so I’ll manage to use that extra time for sleeping –
if I get too that soon.

While I didn’t spend much time with
Michael, he did come over for a while after the Inn was closed for the night;
and didn’t care about getting razzed by my cousins for cuddling with me while
playing video games too, and that was good for him; since I wouldn’t have been
happy if he’d ignored me for that bit of time we had together before he needed
to get home for the night.

I’d have thought about keeping him for a
sofa sleepover, but I don’t think that would have been as much fun as usual
with Chris, Martin, and Jonathan all in there too until whatever time they get
around to going to bed.

There isn’t much else to add to this report,
and I don’t plan on staying up until they do call it a night; so let’s just
wrap this up now.Tomorrow is going to
be another busy day, though for me; that’s going to be because of the church
service that the teen praise team will be leading the music for; and helping
out at the Inn for the holiday weekend buffets.I’m getting tired out just thinking about part two of that, so that’s it
for now; and, until next time...